Steve McIntosh Report Blog Archive

Hawker Beechcraft will stay

by Steve McIntosh,posted Dec 29 2010 5:09AM

The year is coming to an optimistic close concerning the Hawker Beechcraft story. Last fall the state of Louisiana reportedly waved a 400 million-dollar incentive package under the aircraft maker’s nose … inviting Hawker to relocate to the south. There was a deal to keep the company here … demolished when the Machinists Union turned down a contract.

The new offer from state and local government is 45 million dollars over ten years … for research and development, assembly line improvements, and worker training. The company has agreed to keep its main product lines and headquarters in Wichita until 2010. The deal is contingent on Hawker Beechcraft maintaining a Wichita employment base of 4,000. As of last week, the company had about 5,000 workers in Wichita.

Keeping this major manufacturer and its jobs in Wichita is a huge victory for the city and the state. The company and its employees will continue to pay taxes and conduct daily business in south central Kansas, and not in Louisiana or any other state.

I think this is a nice Christmas present.

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Our thought for today is from Harry S. Truman:

“All my life, whenever it comes time to make a decision, I make it and forget about it.”